What's the matter with white crystals in honey

Many people will find that the honey they buy will crystallize. In fact, honey crystallization is a normal phenomenon, especially as time goes by and the temperature changes. However, it should be noted that this is not caused by the addition of white sugar to the honey, but a natural change of honey. The speed of crystallization is related to components such as the glucose crystal nucleus, temperature, and moisture.

1. Honey crystallization is a problem often encountered in the process of consuming honey. As time goes by and the temperature changes, honey will often change from liquid to crystalline, and the color will change from dark to light. This change in honey often causes some people to misunderstand, thinking that it is caused by mixing white sugar into honey. In fact, this is a natural change in honey, not the result of adding sugar.

2. Honey is a supersaturated solution of glucose and fructose containing various nutrients. Since glucose is easy to crystallize, if the separated honey is left at a lower temperature for a period of time, the glucose will gradually crystallize. Its crystallization speed is related to the glucose crystal nuclei, temperature, and moisture source it contains.

3. The glucose crystal nuclei in honey are very small and exist in nectar and old honeycombs that have stored honey. Under certain conditions, the glucose in honey grows and crystallizes around these tiny crystal nuclei. The more crystal nuclei the honey contains, the faster it crystallizes.

4. The speed of honey crystallization is also affected by temperature. It is easiest to crystallize at 13-14℃. If the temperature is lower than this, the viscosity of honey increases, causing the crystallization of honey to be slow; if the temperature is higher than this, the solubility of sugar increases, thereby reducing the supersaturation of the solution and slowing down the crystallization. Therefore, in the process of preserving honey, it is necessary to control the temperature to slow down the crystallization process of honey.

5. The crystallization of honey is also related to the type and water content of honey. For example, sweet clover honey, locust honey, and jujube honey are not easy to crystallize; while rapeseed honey, wild dam honey, cotton honey, and sunflower honey are easy to crystallize. Fully crystallized honey generally has a lower water content and is suitable for long-term storage without deterioration. Immature honey with a high water content will crystallize more slowly or fail to crystallize completely due to the reduced supersaturation of the solution. The crystallized glucose sinks to the bottom, and the other thin honey floats on the upper layer. The nutritional components of this semi-crystallized honey do not change, but the water content of the uncrystallized honey increases accordingly. Therefore, this kind of honey is not suitable for long-term storage.